Cheap Things Come to Those Who Wait

After the slog that was the Three Peaks Challenge at the weekend, I took Monday off work and spent the day treating myself. I went for what turned out to be quite a painful massage, went for some lunch in one of my favourite cafes, and then had a leisurely hobble around the shops.

The Topshop sale had started so I went in for a peek and found that this gorgeous Love label dress had 50% off. Only one left and in my size. Fate. Especially since I almost - almost - bought it for £38 a few weeks ago. I managed to persuade myself out of it because in all honesty it isn't that well made ... since when did 40 quid become the normal price for a skimpy, unlined scrap of a dress anyway? But I just couldn't resist that floral fabric for £19.

A poke about in the accessories section unearthed this rather lovely distressed and vintagey-looking skinny belt for a fiver too - I think they look rather well together.

I then hit the charity shops, pleased to have the full afternoon to rummage rather than rushing about in my dinner break, but really the charity shops in this area are pretty uninspiring. I suppose in a town where everyone wears Primark you can hardly expect a vintage Ossie Clark to turn up for £3 can you?

But I did get these rather pretty plastic rosebud beads for 99p...

And this frilly cropped cardi for £2 (originally Asda, oh the glamour!)

There are a couple of flea markets and car boots on this weekend which I think I'll hit, hopefully in my flimsy new dress if the weather allows!

Reaching my Peak(s)

Well, the Weekend of Doom has been and gone. And... WE DID IT! All Three Peaks conquered! Not quite in the 24 hours sadly, we had a few obstacles, but I'm not bothered in the slightest - as Trayci says, "The achievement is in completing the Three Peaks, the challenge is doing it in 24 hours" - and I definitely feel like I've achieved something big.

Here we all are (bar one) at the bottom of Ben Nevis, fresh faced and clean looking - we were an all-female team of 11 plus our two token men - our leader, trained in survival and map-reading, and our driver, trained in driving and, er, map-reading.

That's me on the right - those pesky poles were soon abandoned!

We set off at 18.25 on Friday and were so lucky with the weather, it was so clear and the views were beautiful - we could see all the way to Skye.

But there was still a small patch of snow near the top...

I look like I'm taking it in my stride here but I was sliding all over the place!

We made it to the summit at 21.25 - it had taken three hours exactly, so we were on target for five hours for the mountain overall - it's always quicker downhill for obvious reasons, especially on that snowy patch!

The summit of Ben Nevis is really interesting, there is the ruin of an old observatory, on top of which has been built an emergency shelter for walkers.

We quickly got out the Great North Air Ambulance banner for a photo:

I'm in the middle, above the word 'Great', if you can see!

Another pic of the amazing view; I feel so lucky to have seen Ben Nevis at its best, I bet there's not many that have!

And off we set back down the track, happy that we'd be able to get to the bottom in under the two hours required. But disaster struck. One of the girls had hurt her knee badly. We got her strapped up with a bandage (one of the girls is a sports therapist handily) and loaded with ibuprofen but it was still painfully slow going. I was gutted for her, it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to carry on and you could see how disappointed and frustrated she was. I knew exactly how she must feel - to have it thwarted like that after all the build-up is just awful. She did amazingly well getting down the mountain though and we didn't have to call out the air ambulance luckily!

However it had taken us three and a half hours to reach the bottom. It's a good job we brought our head torches because it was five to one when we got to the car park. The voracious Scottish midges were all attracted to the lights which meant there was a constant cloud of them in front of our faces. Luckily I was doused in insect repellent and wasn't bitten, but it wasn't very nice.

It was obvious now that we wouldn't be able to make the 24 hour target; I think I mentioned before that the only vehicle we could get was a minibus restricted to 60mph so it was going to be a struggle anyway as any time we lost on the mountains we wouldn't be able to make up on the road ... and an hour and a half is a lot of time to lose. There was talk of not carrying on, until one voice piped up that actually, she did want to carry on, and most people agreed. I was glad she did because I would probably have given up without argument, partly relieved, even though I really wanted to continue. Decided, we got back on the road.

I surprisingly managed to sleep quite well on the bus, and awoke at around 4.30 on Saturday for my stint as "co-driver" - we had a rota of awake people to make sure the driver stayed awake - to see this:

Oh yes, it was raining.

So there I was, 4.30 on a Saturday morning, eating cold tuna pasta and contemplating climbing the highest mountain in England. The euphoria of climbing Ben Nevis just hours before had been completely lost.

Ten of us (we had lost another girl to her knees overnight) set off up Scafell Pike at 7.45 on Saturday morning. It was absolutely pouring down and we were actually soaked before leaving the car park.

It didn't help that we had to cross this 'stream' (raging torrent) with no bridge - SPLODGE SPLODGE - of course I missed the stepping stones! (This part was mentioned in the risk assessment compiled for the trip. I quote: "It is not the sort of stream people regularly drown in" !!)

Not only was it raining, it was also extremely foggy on the fell, this picture gives you an idea of the visibility:

It is extremely demoralising trudging up a mountain without being able to see how far you have to go or how far you've come. Trudge, trudge, trudge. The terrain was awful, lots of loose scree which shifts underfoot meaning you can't just stride but have to take real care not to fall. I was really struggling towards the top of Scafell and wanted to cry every time what I'd thought was the trig point looming out of mist turned out to be ANOTHER. BLOODY. CAIRN.

We did finally make it to the top in 2 hours 20 at 10.05 but we were all so wet and cold that there was no smiling with the banner on this one! I quickly snapped this picture to prove I made it to the summit, and we headed down.

The weather started to clear up slightly and there were some lovely views of Wast Water to be had. We made it to the bottom at 11.45 - a total of four hours which was on target had we still been going for the 24 hour challenge.

Wast Water is the deepest lake in England, and when checking that fact on Wikipedia I came across an interesting gnome anecdote

So two down, one to go and 6 hours 40 minutes left on the clock. Knowing that we weren't going to make the time limit, we relaxed into things somewhat, stopping for fish and chips and so on (Not me! There's no way I could climb a mountain with fish and chips in my belly!).

The sun came out as we headed into North Wales but it became progressively rainier as we headed towards Snowdon, and by the time we set off (18.25 Saturday, the 24 hour mark) the weather was just the same as it had been on Scafell.

I made the mistake of massively underestimating Snowdon. Although it's the middle mountain in terms of height, the starting point is quite high up so the ascent is actually less than Scafell, and most of the walk along the Miners' Track is flat(ish). I had it in my head as a sort of jaunt up a small hillock to stretch our legs after the other two. Huge mistake, which just proves what a massive mental challenge this one is.

I don't mind admitting how hard I found Snowdon. My legs weren't too achey and I certainly wasn't in any pain. I wasn't hungry and didn't feel overly tired. But just putting one foot in front of the other suddenly became so hard. All credit to the girls, they stayed with me (except the two who had decided to run up!!) and encouraged me all the way. I kept apologising, I knew how much I was slowing them down and how frustrating it must have been for them, but there was no way I was giving up halfway up the last mountain. "Too right you're not!" they said.

Just the one picture from the final mountain, I'd left my camera on the bus (argh!) so this was taken on my phone:

The cairn on top of Snowdon is actually really interesting, with a little plaque pointing out what you can see (in theory!) and how far away it is. There's also a cafe (closed) and a train which goes practically to the top. I'll be taking that next time.

We finally made it back to the car park at 22.45 on Saturday, over 28 hours after starting out. I do think though that without the injuries and in a car that could go a bit faster, we could have pushed ourselves to make the 24, but I'm not going to dwell on it. We drove through the night back to work, I picked up my car and picked my way through the drunken revelry that is Middlesbrough at 5am on a Sunday and made it home 42 hours after leaving. Bed! Toothbrush! Shower! Bliss!

I can't say I'd do it again. It was HARD and don't let any macho boy types try and tell you any different. BUT I do feel brilliant for doing it and the memories will stay with me forever. The camaraderie both within our group and amongst the other walkers really gave me faith in people. Practically everyone we came across was also doing the Three Peaks, and to hear someone say "Keep going, you're nearly there - you're doing great!" as they bound down past you huffing and puffing on the way up is such a morale booster.

The next day I was surprised to find that my muscles didn't ache any more than had I just done one mountain, but I do have the mother of all blisters:

I debated posting this pic for decency's sake, but I figured if I've suffered you can too. Ha.

Massive thanks to all of you for your support, it was so lovely coming home to all the good luck messages after Friday's post. Thanks also for all your generous donations to the Great North Air Ambulance - we've now raised well over £2000 on- and offline which is brilliant. And again thank you Trayci for all your advice - you're amazing!

I can't quite believe it's over and I did it, but it'll be so nice to get back to walking for pleasure again!

Day Zero Watch:
#6 - Complete the Three Peaks Challenge - DONE!

Today's the Day

This is it, don't get scared now! It doesn't seem two days ago that I signed myself up for the Three Peaks Challenge back in January but we've hurtled through 2011 with alarming speed so far and all of a sudden it is today.

Today's the Day.

I'm setting off from home at 10am and we depart work at 11am, aiming to start up Ben Nevis around 5pm and be down for about 11pm. Drive through the night to Scafell Pike which we aim to do around 6am-10am, then Snowdon hopefully around 2-5pm, arriving back home about midnight Saturday.

The weather is not looking too favourable. But I'm repeating Wainwright's mantra in my head over and over "There's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong type of clothing" - and I most definitely have the RIGHT type of clothing for this forecast, I just hope it can withstand consistent weather for 24 hours!

Would you like to see what I'm taking?

(Idea shamelessly copied from Trayci, who completed the challenge last weekend in an amazing 23h45, and who has been giving me lots of info and advice)
Kit list:

- Bivvy Bag (this could save my life but I really really don't want to end up in a giant orange binbag!)
- Big yellow rucksack
- Waterproof rucksack cover
- Walking poles
- Trusty boots
- T-shirt and spare t-shirt
- Long-sleeved top
- Windwall fleece
- Waterproof jacket
- Waterproof deluge trousers
- Comfiest knickers and medium-impact sports bra
- Socks and spare socks, and pink fluffy socks for on the bus
- Elastic knee supports
- Woolly hat
- Gloves
- Scarf
- Ear muffs
- Gaiters
- Head torch
- 2l Camelbak water receptacle
- Emergency foil blanket
- Emergency whistle
- Plasters, blister plasters and painkillers
- Glasses and contact lenses
- Wet wipes
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent
- Tissues
- Hair bobbles and grips
- Camera
- Lipbalm
- Facial wipes and moisturiser

Food:

- 7.5l water (2l for each mountain and 1.5l for on the bus)
- Enormous quantities of tuna pasta
- 4 bags of Jelly Babies (one bag per mountain and one for luck)
- Chocolate Guinness Cake for a sugar hit on the bus
- 6 peanut butter sandwiches (two per mountain)
- 8 oaty flapjack bars
- 5 Snickers

... and I'm actually wondering if it'll be enough. It'll have to be, I can't carry any more!

Thanks so much to those of you who have sponsored me, I didn't expect it and really appreciate it, what a wonderful world blogworld is! If you haven't but would like to you can do so here.

OK, here I go. See you on the other side!!

The Finished Article: Knitting Bag #2

You may remember me making a knitting bag for my best friend in December as a Christmas present for her six-year old niece. I made it up as I went along but was pretty pleased with the results - as was my friend. When I saw her in March we were talking about knitting and crochet (such grannies) and again she said how much everyone had loved that bag and how she wished she'd kept it for herself. A little lightbulb went off above my head: her birthday is in June.

When making the first bag I was trying to keep it fresh and modern-looking as well as girly, but for my friend I was able to go for a more vintagey style - I was thinking something with wooden handles, a bit like this. But at the same time I didn't want to use any of my vintage sheets for the fabric - not sure why but it just didn't feel right.

So I got some lovely orange floral fabric which I felt had a vintagey feel to it, and some green geometric stuff for the lining. The blue/green trim is a cotton ribbon from my stash, I think it came tied in a bow around some toiletries one Christmas, and the big blue button is a vintage one also from my stash. The dowel was in Dad's blokey stash of DIY materials, he cut it to size for me and smoothed the ends.

As with the first one, I made a matching knitting needle roll too. I took them out On Location in the garden one sunny morning last week for a photoshoot and here they are:

Unfortunately the bright sunlight shows up every little mistake, they really aren't as obvious normally (only to me!)

As with the first one, I went for a boxy shape to allow plenty of room for stashing lots of wool

Even though that shape is a real pain to sew (at some points I did wonder how it was going to come together)

As with my previous design, I fully lined the bag and put in a little pocket.

The little tag says 'Made by Me', it's this ribbon roll

And here is the needle roll

With some bamboo needles inside (partly so she'd know what it was)

I have to say looking back at the last bag when I was putting in the link above, I'm impressed with how much better this one is - I much prefer the design and I think the finish is a lot more professional. Obviously it's all a learning curve and I made a few changes based on faults I've seen in previous makes - notably here I put the flappy bit at the end of the needle roll to keep the needles in when it's rolled up, and I made the needle pockets themselves all different sizes to fit various needles.

My friend was over the moon with it, as she was opening it she said "Is this what I was hoping it would be?" which was nice, and she even sent a text when she got home to say she'd put all her knitting in there and how much she loved it. Hurrah for job satisfaction!

On the Cat Walk in York

At school I was not one of the popular crowd and had only three girls I would call 'friends'. Well, they must have been real friends because (gulp) 13 years after leaving school we are still best buddies and despite the fact that I live in Teesside, one lives in York and two live at opposite ends of London, two are married and one has a baby, we still manage to meet up a few times a year for meals and drinks and days out. We like to think we're a bit like the Sex and the City girls, except no-one wants to be Samantha.

So this weekend we descended on York for the second time in a row (it's the York friend with the new baby and as she's unable to detach a boob to leave behind, we have come to her). Last time we were there we found this leaflet. The York Cat Trail. Oooh, walking and cats all in one - I liked this idea, and luckily so did the girls. We made a pact that we would do it this weekend.

Unfortunately it turned out to be quite frustrating for us. One numbered cat is missing from the map, and the numbers on the map don't correspond to the numbers in the description telling us how to find it and it's all just very muddled. It was thoroughly confusing but we did manage to get by (just) due to York Friend's good knowledge of the city having lived there so long, and found all 17 cats! It was a very overcast day and a lot of them were quite far away so I hope you can spot them OK in the photos...

Cat 1, the only non-statue, on Low Petergate

Cat 2 climbing a wall by the clock on Colliergate

Cat 3 on a roof on Kings Square.
Apparently the plastic pigeon was added later by a builder doing work on the building, to give the cat something to do!

Cat 4 is climbing up the gable end of some new flats on St Andrewgate

Cat 5 is poised to leap off a balcony next door to number 4.
I would love to live in a flat with a cat statue on the balcony!

We found this little tigress just down the road from 4 & 5, very friendly.

Cat 6 is climbing up the wall of The Black Swan, reputedly the most haunted pub in York

Cat 7 sitting proudly above a deli on Goodramgate

Cat 8 accompanied by a horse on High Petergate

Cat 9 on Gillygate - a lovely little white one
Pleasingly this picture looks like a face

Cat 10 above Clinton's Cards on Coney Street

Cat 11, on the wall of a former Grocer's on Low Ousegate

Cat 12 next door to Cat 11, looks angry but he IS chained up, poor ginger thing!

Cat 13 was very difficult to spot from the riverbank. Can you see him on the roof in the middle of the picture?

Cats 14 & 15 on the windowsills of a house by the river.
One of the girls said they were boring because they were both the same, but I say no cat is boring!

Goosey Gander and Goslings nearby 14 & 15 - they should watch their backs with all these cats about!

Cat 16 above the York Lucky Cats shop on The Shambles

Cat 17 on the windowsill of an accountant's.
Do you think they put that sign there knowing they'd get free exposure in hundreds of tourists' snaps?

We were ready for a cuppa after all that traipsing about!

Frustrations aside, it is an interesting thing to do and really opens your eyes to the things around you (rather than just the shop windows) - as well as cats, we saw faces painted in upstairs windows, a blue dragon on a wall and a jaunty little brass whale for no apparent reason above a doorway. Beware though, York on a Saturday in June is NOT the best place to be walking about with your nose in the air looking for cat sculptures - hazards abound in the form of little dogs, cobbles and tourists!

Incidentally, whilst trying to work out which cat is which for this post, I came across this really interesting website dedicated to the cats, it gives bits of history of the cats and little anecdotes if you like that kind of thing!

Day Zero watch:
#69 Do the York Cat Trail - DONE!

Travel Pass Wallet Cover thingy - a tutorial

I was very flattered to have three (three!) requests for a tutorial for the travel pass wallety things I made here and here. Really there's nothing to them, they're a real botch job ... but flattery will get you everywhere with me and so I will oblige.

They're really very easy, I made this one in under an hour, including taking pictures, scribbling notes, making a cuppa and listening out for Cindy Beale tripping up with her Northern accent.

I've designed (ahem) them to fit over an existing (ugly) wallety thing so they are purely aesthetic and I wouldn't recommend putting your tickets and passes directly into them as they'll probably fall out without something holding them more securely in place.

You will need:
- A pre-made (ugly) wallety thing
- A scrap piece of fabric roughly 15" x 7" (though this will depend on the size of your wallety thing)
- Medium weight fusible interfacing the same size as the fabric
- Thread and a sewing machine
- An iron

Step 1: Press your fabric

Step 2: Attach the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric. If you've not used interfacing before, the shiny side will be the sticky side when ironed. The interfacing is optional really but it just makes it that bit more robust. (My bit is too small really but it was the only bit I had).

Step 3: Fold in half lengthways, wrong sides together, and press the crease in.

Step 4: Fold in half lengthways with RIGHT sides together this time and pin the edges.

Step 5: Leaving a seam allowance of about 1/4"-1/2", sew up the three open edges, leaving a 3" gap in the middle of the long edge to turn it out. Before turning out, trim the seam allowance and chop the corners off, to reduce bulk.

Step 6: Turn fabric the right way round then fold the raw edges of the gap in on themselves, pin and press in place.

Step 7: Top stitch the length of that long edge to seal the gap.

Step 8: Fold in half widthways and press the crease in the middle.

Step 9: Open it out and place the centre of your (ugly) wallety thing on the centre crease.

Step 10: Using the (ugly) wallety thing as a guide, fold the edge inwards, leaving a bit of wiggle room (it needs space to open and close, it won't close if it's too tight).
Step 11: Remove (ugly) wallety thing and pin in place.

Step 12: Repeat on the the other side and press both edges, and you should have something looking like this:
Step 13: Simply sew as close to the edge as possible along both long edges

Step 14: Insert existing (ugly) wallety thing et voila!

Very quick and easy, and a good way of using up those random bits of fabric.

Well, this time next week I'll be heading up to the Scottish Highlands - eep! But for now it's a weekend away with the girls - let the tea and cake and shopping commence!